Bran-Nu Entertainment’s songstress Ruth Ann Brown, gives Jamaicans more reason to be proud each time she opens her mouth.
I won’t kill you with a bag a long talking. I am just highlighting a classy lady…a class act who sings like an angel. Her being Jamaican has nothing to do with it. (a lie mi a tell)…..her being Jamaican like myself makes me even more proud of her. Why? ‘Cause……………….
This is my blog; I don’t need a reason.
This young woman is talented and humble and deserves our support.
Check out her bio below…check her out on iTunes…link her on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/ruthabrown?fref=ts
Catch up with her on Bran-Nu Entertainment’s YouTube channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BranNuEnt
Watch and listen then tell me what you think.
Ruth…nuff love mi sis…
Biography of Reggae Singer/Songwriter, Ruth-Ann Brown
For Ruth-Ann Brown, making Reggae music was hardly a choice; it was something she could not run from. More commonly known as Ruth, the singer was born in the mid 1980’s in Jamaica, where she was surrounded by the influences of dancehall veterans such as King Yellowman, Josie Wales, and Jacob Miller. “Instead of going to sleep as soon as my mother put me to bed as a young child, I would listen to the sound system playing across the street from my house until I fell asleep. Reggae was like a drug. I couldn’t get enough,” Ruth recalls. As an adolescent, she enjoyed singing in the church choir and writing poems as a means of releasing her pent-up emotions. By the time she became a young adult, she began experimenting with writing songs to instrumentals made by friends. Her listeners have described her music as soul-touching, passionate, intense, deep, yet still as smooth, relaxing, tropical and warm. She credits Dennis Brown, The Cranberries and Sade as her greatest musical influences.
In late 2005, Ruth’s first song, ‘As It Is’ was released on the Di-Mon Cut label and this marked her entry into the music business. From then, she has honed her art. In relation to her craft, Ruth states, “I can’t imagine music without emotions. When I make music, I want people to feel it as much as I do, so I try to connect with my emotions and release them into my work. When I touch the lives of others, only then will I be successful as an artiste.” Renowned music critic and writer, Stan Smith, describes Ruth’s music as full of “thought-provoking lyrics, which are emotionally enraptured and sometimes easy going [and they] make her songs easy to digest”.
In 2007, Ruth-Ann Brown was introduced to Rhoan Bromfield, owner and CEO of Bran-Nu Entertainment and from then, a strong union was formed. “I have found something most artistes only dream of,” Ruth explains with a smile, “Working with a label that gives me my creative freedom and gives me much needed guidance in a cut-throat industry is a fairytale. Without them, I would be a headless chicken. Furthermore, they believe what I believe where making rich, cultural Reggae music is concerned – it is live music and we will not take the digital route.” Presently, Ruth-Ann Brown and Bran-Nu Entertainment are building a catalogue of songs so that her much-anticipated debut album will be ready when the time is right.
In the meantime, Bran-Nu Entertainment has released a five-song EP, entitled ‘Ruth’, which is available online for download. It consists of the smooth, yet intense flute-driven single, ‘Unfamiliar Feelings’ which has received tremendous airplay worldwide. The accompanying music video sat at the top position on several music charts in Jamaica. On the EP are also the more traditional drum and bass driven ‘Chillin’ with My Baby’ and ‘I Love You’, as well as the acoustic numbers ‘Here Come the Critics’ and ‘Jamdown’. In a review of Brown’s EP, entertainment writer, Joseph Tortelli says, “Ruth-Ann Brown’s five-song EP expands and enriches preconceived notions about reggae artists. The Jamaican singer-songwriter blends pop, soul, and acoustic stylings into her reggae-rooted compositions…Digging deeply into reggae’s emotional power, these tracks unveil an expressive singer-songwriter with distinctive blue-beat pipes.”
Since the release of the EP, Ruth has been interviewed by several radio stations across the world and has been featured in and on the cover of several print media worldwide. Roxroy McLean, says of Brown in The Sunday Gleaner, “What’s intriguing is that she approaches each topic with the same passion and zeal, which makes her stand out…” She has done several performances in and around Washington DC and has shared the stage with Reggae icons Freddie McGregor, Beres Hammond, and I-Wayne just to name a few. Her performance at The Mansion at Strathmore in Maryland was historic as she was the first Reggae artiste to be invited to the prestigious venue. Attendees described her performance as ‘moving’, ‘honest’, ‘refreshing’ and ‘heartfelt’. Ruth has also sung the American National Anthem at a basketball game in Virginia – an experience she describes as ‘an honor.’
In May 2012, Ruth-Ann Brown’s EP, entitled ‘RUTH’, earned her two awards in the 15th Washington DC Annual Reggae Music Awards. These include ‘Best Reggae Recording’ and ‘Best Female Reggae Recording’. To celebrate the event, Ruth was given the honor of performing on the renowned FOX Network where she sang ‘Any Day Now’ and ‘Unfamiliar Feelings’ to a potential audience of one million viewers. In June 2013, Ruth was honored at the 16th Washington DC Annual Reggae Music Awards with ‘Best Female Reggae Performer’.
With the moves made by her label, Bran-Nu Entertainment, and her manager Ric Zheron, Ruth-Ann Brown’s future is looking bright. They have managed to secure licensing deals with several airlines including Air France, a Kenyan airline and an Austrian airline. “With the help of Bran-Nu Entertainment and with Ric Zheron as my greatest support, I am looking forward to a long-lasting, meaningful career,” says Ruth.
© 2012 Bran-Nu Entertainment. All Rights
Celebrity Plus-Again! 
Saving Jamaica
Jamaica cannot import its development. When we look at so called developed countries, we see that their development came in stages. The US for example, was a lawless country after it’s independence from England.
The government didn’t develop the country; it was individuals looking for better, exploiting natural resources (including humans) who created America.
There was an agricultural, industrial, technological revolution. Jamaica has had none of those. We want to pretend that we are on par with the US because we use 4G technology, can drive the latest vehicle and want to build a logistic center.
We want this and that from Jamaica but, we are viewing a 50 year old toddler through the eyes of 250 year old adult. How many Jamaicans would have enjoyed living in a 50 year old America-lawlessness, corruption, crime and violence? Watch the movie ‘The Gangs of New York’..,see Jamaica.
If people are serious about getting Jamaica on a path to development, they have to look within themselves and the country. We have land-farm it. We have to feed ourselves.
The government of Jamaica or any country cannot be the only ones responsible for a country’s development. What the government want, they get it from the people tax, tax, tax. Private enterprise has to be a reality.
Educate the people, and you will educate the nation. The JAMAL program should be revisited. You can’t expect a viable country when illiteracy is so high.
Discipline what we so admire in the Chinese, why we are so willing to sell and give our country is sadly needed in every Jamaican. We don’t need an IMF loan to accomplish that. Again, we have to look at ourselves. Where did our disciplined selves go? Our Mother Country set us free but did we not realize that we had to cultivate discipline for ourselves?
Jamaicans are often stereotyped as being ingenious and having more than one job. Use those stereotypes to our advantage. My grandfather use to say that Jamaica was more independent when it was dependent on England. There were tailors, bakers, independent providers in the communities. People farmed, ate and sold. Now we have empty markets and big old Coronation Market in Saint Andrew and Kingston throwing away food because not enough people are buying…at the same time people a beg fi food and going hungry. So, here’s a foreign idea (only kind Jamaicans understand and crave)…collect the unsold market produce and start a food bank!
Want a better Jamaica? Let all of those politicians live in their constituencies. Let them send their children to the local schools. Let their wives or husbands have to travel through and see how quick the ghetto, gully and garrison become respectable gated communities.
We will stand, but we have to feed and nourish ourselves in order to build the strong legs we need to stand on.
J McFarquhar
Reggaedis@moreculture.com
About the Journalist:
J. McFarquhar is Jamaican born and bred, yet a tried and true New Yorker. A music enthusiast and historian; she’s a proud product of St. Andrew (not Kingston), Jamaica. In addition to her pointed social and musical commentary, she’s also revising her forthcoming novel about a girl coming of age and, an informational piece about her favorite parish, Saint Andrew. McFarquhar also writes and curates for Moreculture.com. Those with a keen eye might also remember her as a contributor to Celebrityplus.net under the name Reggaedis.